Chapter 268: Battle of Yueyang (II)

William piloted a P-38 fighter aircraft and had already spotted the Little Devil's ground artillery positions in the sky.

After entering Dongting Lake, the altitude dropped from five thousand meters to one thousand meters, just to bully the Little Devils who have no aircraft.

"Ghost 1st squadron, 2nd squadron, 3rd squadron, three waves of attack, target the Japanese Army's heavy artillery on the ground! Let them become history! Up! Up! Up!"

"Fire!" William pressed the launch button.

This P-38 carried two fifty‑pound bombs. As William pressed the button, the bombs separated from beneath the aircraft; they missed the target but still blew a few Little Devils away.

William felt a bit regretful.

However, his wingman hit the ammo box beside a 105 mm howitzer.

Boom!

A earth‑shaking roar erupted; the heavy cannon exploded like a crushed tin can, turning into a massive fireball, with fragments and limbs hurled high into the air.

The massive barrel slammed onto the Japanese artillery regiment, the heavy barrel instantly crushing the Little Devil's bodies into deformed shapes.

"Lin Heng! Congratulations, you scored!" William yanked the control stick, the fighter elegantly rolling to evade a series of black anti‑aircraft smoke plumes shooting skyward.

Lin Heng, William's wingman.

William didn't care whether he hit the target accurately; even the best shooter makes mistakes!

He quickly located the anti‑aircraft battery that had just fired at him.

Clack clack clack.

A rapid series of 20 mm machine‑gun fire struck that anti‑aircraft position; the Little Devil's camp was thrown into chaos, and one Little Devil was, fortunately, hit in the abdomen, his upper and lower bodies instantly severed.

From close range, a cloud of blood could still be seen!

Another Little Devil had both legs shattered, rolling and crawling on the ground, soon falling silent.

Two P-38 Lightning fighters trailed behind William, staying close; when attacking an important target, three fighters' gunfire would converge until total destruction.

The Japanese Army built a small airfield in Yueyang to bomb Changsha; there were few aircraft, only a handful of fighters. Because they had to coordinate Operation No. 19 ahead, the fighters were all redeployed. The Japanese forces along the Yueyang front entered a defensive posture.

Unfortunately, a few days earlier, intelligence had spotted this fighter and reported it to Xue Yue, who immediately contacted Changde; William then led his aircraft and destroyed those fighters.

In other words, the skies over the Two Lakes are now under Jiang Anguo's command!

Above the sky, twenty‑four "Lightning" aircraft swam like sharks sensing blood, mercilessly hunting the Japanese Army's heavy artillery positions, ammo depots, and command posts.

The bomb blasts merged into a roar that could be heard miles away.

The 10th Army 3rd Division even stopped attacking, standing in place, watching this fireworks display.

Once bullied by Japanese aircraft and artillery, they now watch the Little Devils being bombed, crying and screaming.

Within minutes, Colonel Teng Jing Yang Zhi's painstakingly built artillery position turned into a sea of fire, six heavy guns reduced to piles of burning scrap metal.

Fortunately, part of the heavy artillery was transported by the 3rd Corps to Nanchang.

A Japanese Class A Division's artillery regiment fielded thirty‑six 75 mm field guns and twelve 105 mm howitzers.

William's P-38 had not yet fired its machine guns when Colonel Teng Jing Yang Zhi's binoculars fell to the ground, his face etched with despair and disbelief.

"Eight‑grid Ya‑lu!" Teng Jing Yang Zhi cursed, his teeth chattering with anger.

But the soldiers of the Japanese 6th Regiment had no way to deal with the aircraft overhead.

William's P-38 "Lightning" fighter swooped like an elegant, deadly hawk over Yueyang. He smoothly handled the stick, piloting the aircraft in a wide circle around the war‑scarred city.

The view beneath the cockpit gave even this battle‑hardened pilot a hint of awe.

The Japanese fire point outside Yueyang city now lay in ruins, thick smoke billowing.

Through his sight he searched carefully; the outer positions no longer showed any organized counter‑fire, only scattered, desperate rifle flashes flickering on the ground like dying candles in the wind.

This was no longer a battle, but a sweep.

William inhaled deeply, opened the radio channel, his voice calm and clear, yet unmistakably authoritative:

"'Ghost' long-range aircraft calling all 'Ghost' units. High‑value targets have been eliminated, ground fire suppressed."

He paused a second, his gaze sweeping over the Chinese troops charging below and the collapsed Japanese defensive line ahead of them.

"Switch to free fire. Repeat, free fire. Clean them up. Over."

The radio channel instantly boiled over, long‑suppressed excitement erupting like a volcano.

"Received, commander!" a pilot with a Guangzhou accent replied, crisp and decisive like a professional soldier.

"It's time!" a pilot with a Texas drawl roared, his voice full of wild joy, "We've been waiting for those words, boss!"

"My aircraft have been starving for action!"

Jiang Anguo's batch of pilots obtained through the System Exchange came from all over the world, their accents naturally varied, primarily from the major nations.

Before the words finished, a P-38 dove sharply, its nose cannon spitting a long flame that shredded a struggling Japanese heavy machine gun, gun and crew alike, into fragments.

Immediately after, the entire "Ghost" formation scattered like a pack of wolves freed from shackles. Some fighters swept the fleeing Japanese infantry, bullets reaping lives like the Grim Reaper's scythe; others dropped the remaining rockets and bombs under their wings onto any spot in the city that resembled a military target.

Explosions rose and fell, turning the area outside Yueyang city into a veritable human inferno.

Unfortunately, civilians lived inside the city, and the commander forbade fighter bombing within; thus the urban targets had to be dealt with by ground forces.

William thought the commander was wrong, as this would cause massive casualties among the ground troops, yet he obeyed the command unconditionally.

William did not take part in the slaughter; he kept his altitude, calmly observing the battlefield like a lofty judge.

He knew the Chinese Army on the ground needed absolute aerial suppression to secure minimal casualties and win the battle.

He watched below as the 10th Army's soldiers surged onto the Japanese outer positions; the medic patch had sunk into the mud during the first bombing round, while a new flag fluttered high amid the smoke.

"Ghost 2, report status," William asked calmly over the channel.

"Commander, the ground is ours. The mission is proceeding smoothly; large numbers of Japanese are fleeing into the city. Looks like they're preparing for a final resistance. Over."

William gave a slight nod, a cold arc curling at the corner of his mouth.

"Received. Formation. We're heading home. Over."